HE NOW HAS TEN DAYS TO APPEAL THAT DISMISSAL. FOR THE FIRST TIME TONIGHT IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO GO WATCH BLACK FISH AND SEE FOR THEMSELVES THE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE DEATH OF TRAINER DAWN BRANCHEAU AT SEA WORLD. THE THEME PARK IS CALLING THE DOCUMENTARY ONE SIDED AND UNFAIR. MIKE DE FOREST IS LIVE IN MATELAND WHERE IT DEBUTED. WERE THERE ANY SEA WORLD EXECUTIVES IN THE AUDIENCE THIS EVENING? LISA, IF THERE WERE, WE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THEM. BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE WERE SOME INVESTIGATORS WITH OSHA WHO LOOKED INTO DAWN BRANCHEAU'S DEATH HERE IN THE AUDIENCE TONIGHT ALONG WITH FORMER SEA WORLD EMPLOYEES. TICKETS HAVE BEEN SELLING OUT TO SEE THE DOCUMENTARY BLACK FISH WHICH TAKES A CRITICAL LOOK AT KEEPING KILLER WHALES IN CAB TIFT AND, IN PARTICULAR, THE ONE THAT DROWNED SEA WORLD TRAINER DAWN BRANCHEAU. THE WHALE HAS EATEN ONE OF THE TRAINERS. I THINK WHAT I TOOK FROM IT WAS WHEN YOU MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL. LISA EVERET BELIEVES THERE IS MORE TO THE DEATH THAN SEA WORLD DIDIVULGED. I REMEMBER HEARING THAT SHE WAS PULLED IN BY HER PONY TAIL WHICH WAS LESS OFFENSIVE THAN BEING PULLED IN BY AN ARM. I GREW UP IN CAPE COD. SAYING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A WHALE TRAINER CHANGED WHEN SHE TOOK PART IN A JOB SHADOW PROGRAM AT SEA WORLD. SHE THINKS THIS DOCUMENTARY WILL GIVE VIEWERS THE SAME NEGATIVE OPINION OF THE MARINE PARK. IT WAS JUST SAD, CAGES AND TANKS AND CRYING. ALTHOUGH MANY WHO LEFT THE THEATER VOWED NEVER TO RETURN TO SEA WORLD AGAIN, OTHERS RESPECT THE COMPANY'S DECISION NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOCUMENTARY. IT IS JUST ONE SIDE TO THIS CONTROVERSY TO THIS EVENT. SO I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT SEA WORLD WOULD HAVE TO SAY IN RESPONSE TO THIS. AND WHAT SEA WORLD SAYS IS THAT AUDIENCES ARE BEING MISLED BY THIS FILM WHICH THEY CALL SCIENTIFICALLY INACCURATE TONIGHT, SEA WORLD SPOKESPERSON IS ENCOURAGING AUDIENCES THAT SEE THIS FILM TO THEN GO TO SEA WORLD TO SEE FIRSTHAND HOW THEY TREAT THEIR ANIMAL ANIMALS AND EMPLOYEES. THE SHOWINGS WERE SOLD OUT, CERTAINLY A POPULAR FILM HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. IS IT STILL POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO SEE BLACK FISH? YES, IT IS. IT WILL BE HERE AT THE ENZION THEER FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AT LEAST.

ORLANDO, Fla. -

"Blackfish," the documentary about SeaWorld, opened in a Central Florida theater on Friday, and some shows were sold out.

The movie, which opened Friday at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, attempts to explain why the 12,000-pound killer whale named Tilikum might have drowned Dawn Brancheau, the trainer who fed and cared for him.

Quick Clicks

"We've just seen a lot of interest on social media, a lot of phone calls, people very excited to see this critically acclaimed documentary," said Jennifer Gruhl, spokeswoman for the Enzian.

Most people were silent when they walked out those theater doors, some with red teary eyes.

Many Central Floridians were already familiar with the SeaWorld trainer's death, but some theater-goers told Local 6 the film has changed their opinion about what happened.

"They knew this was going to happen," said Jane Blankenship. "It's happened over and over again, and lives were taken because of it. It's terrible."

Blankenship said she will not be renewing her SeaWorld annual pass after watching the documentary.

Nicole Lebeau worked as a lifeguard at SeaWorld's Discovery Cove years before Brancheau's death.

"Do I look like I've been crying, 'cause I don't want to look like I've been crying," said Lebeau. "Having worked there, I was just amazed at how much I was lied to. I always kind of thought it was a little suspicious."

SeaWorld officials, meanwhile, say the film is not accurate. They said "Blackfish" fails to show the good work the company does rescuing and rehabilitating.

SeaWorld refused to participate in the film.

"Blackfish makes no attempt to tell the story of SeaWorld and its long history displaying killer whales with any degree of balance and fairness. It focuses on a handful of incidents over nearly five decades of SeaWorld history at the exclusion of everything that is positive," a SeaWorld representative said.

"It was eye opening. I will never ever go onto a place that has animals in captivity ever again," said Lebeau. "I'm almost embarrassed I worked for them."

Lebeau said she still has friends who work at SeaWorld. She plans to encourage them to see the movie and spread the word about it on social media, but she also acknowledges that documentaries generally do not get huge audiences, so she doesn't know how much this film will impact SeaWorld's business.

The film will be playing at the Enzian Theater for at least two weeks. The movie will also be shown next week at AMC at Downtown Disney.

"Blackfish" is scheduled to air on CNN in the fall, followed by DVD and Blu-ray releases.

About the film

During the opening credits of the new documentary "Blackfish," audiences hear the chilling 911 calls placed by SeaWorld employees in February 2010 reporting the death of Brancheau.

"We need (the Orange County Sheriff's Office) to respond to a dead person at SeaWorld," stated one of the callers. "A whale ate one of the trainers."

The filmmakers who created "Blackfish" hope their movie will make visitors think twice about buying a ticket to SeaWorld. But park officials, who declined repeated requests to appear in the film, claim the documentary is scientifically inaccurate.

Using interviews with former SeaWorld trainers and graphic video showing captive whales pulling trainers underwater, "Blackfish" suggests that stripping orcas away from their natural families and placing them in captivity may cause psychosis and aggression.

Marine mammal experts featured in the film state that no humans have been killed by an orca in the wild. Of the four deaths that have occurred at marine parks, Tilikum has been implicated in three of them.

The filmmakers tracked down two sisters who say they witnessed Tilikum drown part-time trainer Keltie Byrne at Sealand of the Pacific in Canada in 1991. Eight years later, after SeaWorld purchased Tilikum, a drifter named Daniel Dukes reportedly snuck into Tilikum's tank after the park had closed. The next morning a SeaWorld employee found him dead and lying naked on Tilikum's back.

Two months before Tilikum drowned Brancheau, a different SeaWorld-owned orca drowned trainer Alexis Martinez at a marine park in the Canary Islands.

In a statement to Local 6, a SeaWorld spokesman said, "Blackfish appears to repeat the same unfounded allegations made many times over the last several years by our opponents in the animal rights community. Importantly, the film fails to make the most important points about SeaWorld: The company is dedicated in every respect to the safety of our staff and the welfare of animals."

Several film critics said they received an email from SeaWorld calling the film "shamefully dishonest, deliberately misleading and scientifically inaccurate."

After Brancheau's death, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued safety citations against SeaWorld, accusing the company of endangering its trainers.

"Blackfish" director Gabriella Cowperthwaite traveled to the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford in 2011 when the company unsuccessfully attempted to get the citations overturned. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Cowperthwaite showed video footage that was played in the courtroom showing killer whales pulling trainers underwater.

Although SeaWorld trainers have remained out of the water since Brancheau's death, the company still allows employees to have close physical contact with killer whales despite OSHA recommendations that trainers remain a safe distance away or behind barriers.

SeaWorld lawyers who are appealing the citations believe their new procedures governing whale interactions are safe and comply with OSHA requirements.

Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of clickorlando.com, WKMG or its affiliated companies. This is a community moderated forum (Please note the 'Flag' button). By posting your comments you agree to accept our Terms Of service

Today's Clickers

Snow and sub-freezing temperatures are no reason to hibernate. Adopt a new winter sport this year and to get outside for your exercise! Use our interactive calculator to figure out how much it will cost to get outfitted for these cold-weather sports.